


And Baby Makes Three

by Sir_Bedevere



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-23 00:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/615946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Bedevere/pseuds/Sir_Bedevere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She prayed that the baby would love him as much as he loved it. </p>
<p>She prayed every day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Baby Makes Three

She watched him sometimes, when she was certain he didn’t know. Her middle son was a constant source of worry for her; not because he was any trouble, no trouble at all, but because Stannis was so serious, so introverted and so lonely.

Lady Cassana Baratheon loved her eldest son, but she wished that he would treat his younger brother better. When Stannis was small, so young he could barely walk, he would follow the older Robert like a shadow. He adored him, she knew. But then Robert’s nature began to assert itself, and Stannis started to harden before her eyes, a product of his older brother’s teasing and his father’s unintentional criticism and the laughs of the squires behind his back. Before she knew it, her smiling baby boy was a troubled child with a storm in his eyes, and the arrival of Renley had only served to make things worse.

Robert wasn’t really interested when he was told that she was pregnant, that there was soon to be another little brother or sister running around the castle. He’d done it before, she reasoned, he knew about being an older brother and a baby wouldn’t be much use to him now that he was almost a man grown. It saddened her that he would be so uninterested, but maybe once the baby came along he would think differently.

Stannis, on the other hand, was fascinated. He wanted to know everything. At ten Cassana thought that perhaps he was a little too young to know exactly how a baby came about, but she told him as much as she could and Steffon told him a little more. It was wonderful to see her son light up once more, immerse himself in the idea that he was soon going to be an older brother too. She lost count of the number of times that he fell asleep besides her, his ear pressed to her stomach, just listening. 

And she prayed that the baby would love him as much as he loved it. 

She prayed every day.

The gods could be so cruel.

When Renley was born, Stannis doted on him, played with him, talked to him, told him stories. And Renley did adore Stannis, that much was clear to her, but as soon as he could walk and was therefore more interesting, Robert got involved and Renley always chose him. It was a novelty, Cassana told herself, Renley chose Robert out of novelty. He’d soon go back to Stannis.

It soon became clear he wasn’t going to.

“Everyone chooses Robert,” Stannis had snapped at her, when she tried to comfort him, “Everyone chooses him over me. Why should Renley be any different?”

“I don’t always choose Robert,” she said, pulling Stannis towards her and smoothing down his black hair, “You know that don’t you? That I love you just as much?”

His little face twisted then, tears breaking through his barriers and he allowed her to hold him close to her. It had been so long since Stannis cried, even at that young age, that she had forgotten how much it wrenched at her heart when he did. She moved him onto her lap and he curled up on himself, clinging to her dress front and sobbing like he would never ever stop. She peppered his hair with kisses and whispered again and again, “I love you, Stannis. My brave, brave boy.”

Eventually he quietened and looked up at her, the walls he so often surrounded himself with stark only in their sudden absence.

“Do I do something wrong?” he whispered, “Is that why you’re the only one?”

“You don’t do anything wrong, my sweet darling. You always do the right thing – don’t think I haven’t noticed. You’re a good boy, Stannis and I’ve always known you’ll grow up to be a good, good man. Never forget that.”

He gazed at her, his look not quite free of the recently acquired scepticism he always seemed to have, but something told her he had taken note of what she had said. Sighing, she kissed his forehead and let him go. He stood slowly and made for the door, turning once more to look at her again.

“I’ll be a good man. Do you promise?”

“I promise, my darling.”

“Will I have friends?”

Her voice caught.

“All good men do.”


End file.
